Holy holi hai!

Holi the festival of colors, is a 6 day festival celebrated in our colourful country in Month of march. It's marks the end of winter(sigh! 😭farewell to thou my lovely winter!) and beginning of the spring(Alas! advent of the wretched sweaty summer😓). 

It has mythological significance everyone knows the Prahlada and Holika Dahan story when Lord Vishnu protects his favorite devotee, little prince Prahlada, from the fire. while, his evil aunt Holika burned to ashes. The essence of this festival like many hindu festivals is celebrating victory of good over evil.

There is another story about holi in the era of Lord Krishna. Holi was celebrated as the advent of spring season and also potrayed the love between Krishna and his beloved Radha. For many, Holi is indeed a festival of love. Applying Gulal(pink colored powder) to their beloved's cheeks, that's holi for some people. For many it's 'bhang piyenge, holi hai'( Intoxicating drink consumed during holi) see there are colors and shades to everything related to holi! 

Known by different names across the states of India. It's one of the most loved festival. Rajasthan has Royal Holi, Uttar Pradesh has Lathmar holi,( it's very interesting you should Google it if u want to know more) Maharashtra has Rang Panchami which is celebrated 5 days after Holika Dahan, Bihar has Paguwa, West Bengal has Basant utsav, Punjab calls is Hola Mohalla (it's a warrior Holi played by Nihang sikhs) which involves martial arts and lots of singing (sounds interesting isn't it?) Shigmo in Goa, Yaoshang in Manipur involves folk dancing, Phakuwah in Assam and the last one was a surprise even for me. They celebrate Holi in some parts of Kerala too and it's called Manjal Kuli(manjal means Turmeric) although I am not sure if they play Holi only with Haldi / Turmeric (if true how beautifying )
Concluding my holi lecture there is only one thing left to say. 

Go colourful!
Happpyyy Hoooliiiiiii!

-Swati Iyer

(Iyerwrit)